On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed legislation that would provide aid to states’ budgets and is predicted to save thousands of teaching jobs. President Obama signed the bill into law as well, providing relief to state budgets that are facing in all over $120 billion in shortfalls for the upcoming fiscal year.

Craig:

I feel very conflicted by this bill. I understand and can see why Congress wants to pass aid to the sates. However, at what cost? As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a huge budget hawk. I think we need to cut more, find new revenue sources, and even change the structure of how we tax our citizens. Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes fiscal responsibility means making wise investments with long term benefits taking precedence over short term concerns. That seems to be the case with the auto bailout.

It is worth noting that the use of the term “bailout” is a bit of a misnomer as the money given to the auto industry was in the form of a loan and will be repaid with interest. It is by no means a giveaway. However, since it is the well established nickname for the aid given to the auto industry, I will continue to use it.

I probably would not have supported the auto bailout without serious limitations on executive pay. Wealthy executives should not be rolling in piles of money while working class Americans pay for bailouts of the same company. Additionally, unreasonable executive pay indicates problems with the fiscal responsibility of auto companies and their executives and that raises the question of whether the public should be risking their hard earned dollars to bail them out.

However, it seems as though the auto bailout has paid off. One Chrysler plant “added a second shift of production to the tune of about 1,100 jobs.” Another Chrysler plant will add 900 at a plant outside Detroit. In the year following the bailout and bankruptcies, 55,000 jobs were created in the auto industry which is the largest growth for the auto industry in more than a decade. More than 10,000 additional jobs are projected to be created by the end of the year. Chevrolet and Ford are both operating at a profit and Chrysler is nearly profitable with only the interest on the government loans keeping them in the red.

Equally important is the fact that, while the government likely will not recoup the approximately $25 billion given to the auto industry by the Bush administration, all of the $60 billion given by the Obama administration in the form of loans will be recouped with interest. This is obviously good news.

Fiscal responsibility is a long term approach and means making the financial decision that is the most fiscally responsible, not necessarily the one that is the most fiscally reluctant.